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Darren Beadman calls time on career

Australia: Darren Beadman has been forced to retire from the saddle as the jockey continues to recover from the head injuries he suffered in a fall in Hong Kong earlier this year.

The accident occurred at Sha Tin in February when a horse he was riding collapsed underneath him, with his injuries leading to problems relating to brain function including balance and speech.

Beadman, quoted on the Brisbane Times website, said: ''I knew in my heart that I wouldn't be riding again, when I was in hospital. I'm really lucky to be alive. I can drive now but it has taken a lot of time even to be able to do that. There have been a lot of little challenges along the way but I'm happy.''

Darren Beadman: has retired

PICTURE:Racingandsports.com.au

A dual winner of the Melbourne Cup, Beadman has had an illustrious career, but will now concentrate on family life. He added: ''I consider myself blessed to have done something I loved for so long.

"Kim [Beadman's wife] knew that my heart was in riding and she put up with a lot because of that. She has been there through all this and we can spend a lot more time together, now that part of my life is over.''

A champion apprentice, Beadman won his first Group 1 race as a 19-year-old when he steered Inspired in the 1984 Golden Slipper.

He went on to win seven Sydney premierships and almost every big race on the Australian calendar including the Melbourne Cup on Kingston Rule in 1990 and again on Saintly six years later.

In 1997 Beadman retired from riding to study to become a preacher with Cummings famously saying he should seek a second opinion.

Beadman's love of horses lured him back to racing three years later and he formed an indomitable association with Jack and Bob Ingham's Woodlands operation.

He won nine Group 1 races on the Inghams' pride and joy Lonhro, a son of Octagonal who Beadman partnered to the three-year-old triple crown in the autumn of 1996.

In 2007, the year he was inducted to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, Beadman relocated to Hong Kong where he formed a successful association with trainer John Moore.